ktonini Posted April 19, 2006 Share Posted April 19, 2006 Hello, I installed os x on my dell inspiron 9300 and now i can't even go back to windows. Here are the steps i took to get to this problem: •I created a 6.5 gig partition with Partition Magic •I Booted from the OSx 10.4.4 install disc •I reformatted that partition to a Mac OS extended (journaled) •I restarted with and it booted up into OS x nicely. Now when i restart to go back into windows, i get "HFS+ partition error" and it wont continue. so.. •I started up the install disc again and erased the partition and os x that i installed and reformated it back to MS Dos and also renamed it disk0s3 (which is what it was called when i reformatted it before) •I then restarted and got the same error as i did before. Now i am stuck and dont know how to get back into windows. I know that all of my system files etc are still there because when i was in os x it showed two hard drives and one of them had all of the files on it. One thing that i noticed was that in disk utility it said that the other partitions on my drive were mac os extended (journaled) (including "untitled", disk0s1, disk0s4 and one other one, etc). However i dismissed the notion that they somehow switched formats because all of the files on them are still intact and reformatting them would have erased this. I know if i have to completely reinstall windows i can save my files because i can just reinstall os x and drop the files on an external hard drive. so, if worst comes to worst that's what i'll do. Otherwise, does anyone have any suggestions or solutions??? thanks! -Keith Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/15426-help-wont-even-boot-into-windows-now/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
tokyovigilante Posted April 19, 2006 Share Posted April 19, 2006 You've lost the Windows bootloader. Your Windows (XP i assume?) partition is intact. Boot into recovery console with your WinXP CD, and type fixmbr. Then reboot. You'll be back in Windows but be locked out of OS X. Search the forums for chain0 or check the Wiki for an easy way to dual-boot with the Windows bootloader. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/15426-help-wont-even-boot-into-windows-now/#findComment-98992 Share on other sites More sharing options...
clotz2000 Posted April 19, 2006 Share Posted April 19, 2006 You need to get a boot disk and use spfdisk to set your XP partition back to Active. I used a WinME boot disk and added spfdisk to the floppy and boot from the floppy. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/15426-help-wont-even-boot-into-windows-now/#findComment-98999 Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktonini Posted April 19, 2006 Author Share Posted April 19, 2006 tokyovigilante, i did what you said and now i get an error saying "system config file '/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration.com.apple.Boot.plist' not found" im not sure what to do next, i would try the spfdisk method, but im not exactly sure about what to do. any guidance would be greatly appreciated. -Keith Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/15426-help-wont-even-boot-into-windows-now/#findComment-99013 Share on other sites More sharing options...
domino Posted April 19, 2006 Share Posted April 19, 2006 If you want windows back follow the directions. You will loose your OS X boot loader after this operation. http://forum.osx86project.org/index.php?s=...indpost&p=90657 Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/15426-help-wont-even-boot-into-windows-now/#findComment-99137 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deviant0ne Posted April 19, 2006 Share Posted April 19, 2006 http://wiki.osx86project.org/wiki/index.ph...le_And_Accurate This one of the chain0 guides and is excellent. Go about half way down the page and find the section called "Windows bootloader boot." This should help you repair your Windows boot loader without completely reinstalling (and help you dual boot). Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/15426-help-wont-even-boot-into-windows-now/#findComment-99155 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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